Former senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said her son was killed by politics, adding he committed suicide last week in response to her relentless immersion in "dirty" politics.

"For a long time, he was telling me, "I hate politics. It was started when I was busy as a public servant," said Santiago, adding, "He was a casualty of politics and because of that I have renounced a life of politics."

Her son Alexander Robert "AR" whom she fondly called "my baby" was found sprawling in his blood, following a gunshot wound that was inflicted near his back, in his room in posh La Vista subdivision in suburban Quezon City on November 20.

Her son passed a written examination at the College of Law at the premier University of the Philippines.

However, he failed a second oral examination, hinting that the examiner was "kind of nasty" because of the former senator's affiliation with the ousted president Joseph Estrada.

"He was asked what he thought about the charge of his mother's insanity and how much his father bet on cockfights. Apparently the interviewers were no fans of mine. He had that in his heart, like a big heavy rock," said Santiago.

"He had objected to my political career because according to him it gave people the impression that I was bad," recalled Santiago, adding, "He used to tell me I should stop being in politics, that he did not like politics." He believed people should see the real me, my natural personality – my Ilongga side which is malambing (affectionate)," said Santiago.

"I did not realise the depth of his suffering," said Santiago, adding, "If I should learn something from his death, it's that I should be more sensitive of other people's emotions."

The young Santiago pass ed the entrance examination for aspiring lawyers at the Ateneo University. But he failed two subjects, one of which was constitutional law. His mother was a consistent top notcher, and has been dubbed as one of the country's sharp and brilliant lawyers.

She was the first Filipino to almost win a presidential election, without a political machinery in 1992. The outspoken and feisty Santiago and former President Filde Ramos fought a neck-to-neck presidential battle in 1992.

In 1995, she won as a senator and for a long time was very critical of Estrada. When she turned around and supported Estrada, many of her former fans who still carried a candle for her felt betrayed.

Students held a protest rally when Santiago tried to teach at the College of Law of La Salle University in 2001, after Estrada's ouster. It was at this time that her son started "feeling the pressure of belonging to a family that supported Estrada," sources said, adding that the suicidal tendencies of the young Santiago must have started then.

He was also in a university that was anti-Estrada, and wherever he went, he was always confronted by her mother's "betrayal by becoming a pro-Estrada," a psychiatrist said.

True, many children of the country's politicians have become victim of sorts. Many of them have been addicted to drugs and unexplained violence. "I think many of them must undergo psychiatric therapy," said the psychiatrist.